Best of 2008: Top 18 movies of the year

Wednesday

Dec 24, 2008 at 12:01 AMDec 24, 2008 at 3:20 AM

I went to various cinemas to see 163 films in 2008. Most of them were pretty bad (think “Space Chimps,” “Baby Mama” and “Over Her Dead Body”). But there were also a surprising amount of winners — films that opened eyes, provoked thoughts, just plain entertained.

Ed Symkus

I went to various cinemas to see 163 films in 2008. Most of them were pretty bad (think “Space Chimps,” “Baby Mama” and “Over Her Dead Body”). But there were also a surprising amount of winners — films that opened eyes, provoked thoughts, just plain entertained. I’m happy to report that it was a difficult task to winnow them down a list of just my top 10 choices for the year. So tough, in fact, that after I did just such a deed, there was a handful of titles left that made me feel bad because I didn’t include them. So after checking out the so-called winners, have no qualms about looking into those that made it into the runners-up pile. They’re all solid efforts, and all are worth seeing. While we’re at it, why not just call this my top 18 list.

10. “Gran Torino” — Clint Eastwood keeps getting more grizzled as an actor and more inventive as a director. He stars as Walt Kowalski, an embittered Korean War vet who’s one of the last white guys left in his urbanized suburban neighborhood. When his wife passes away, all he has left is his dog and his car (see title), and the anger toward anyone “different” from him that he’s been carrying for years. But when he gets involved with an Asian family that’s being terrorized by a local gang, well, all Clint fans know what happens when he puts on that steely squint and grabs a big gun.

9. “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” — With more misses than hits in recent years, the prolific Woody Allen scores with this comical story of an offbeat love triangle (or is it a square?) involving a self-loving Spanish lothario (Javier Bardem) and the complicated women in his very complicated life (Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, and a luminous, crazy and hot-blooded Penelope Cruz). Good news for those who aren’t fond of watching Allen: He’s not in it.

8. “Burn After Reading” — The Coen brothers found their way back on-track with a goofy and sadistic comedy — a good move after the unrelenting grimness of “No Country for Old Men.” Here we’ve a cast of loser characters, all going after selfish dreams, only one of which (Richard Jenkins, all sad puppy-eyed) is worth rooting for. Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand play idiots; George Clooney is a sex fiend who wants to bed every woman he meets (then go for a run); married couple Tilda Swinton and John Malkovich are rotten to the core and deserve each other. Very funny stuff about blackmail and private detectives … until guns and hatchets come out.

7. “Slumdog Millionaire” — After director Danny Boyle cut his teeth on horrific tales of drugs (“Trainspotting”) and zombies (“28 Days Later”), he made a cute film about kids (“Millions”). Now he combines some rough stuff involving police torture and Dickensian child abuse with the story of a young lad in India who’s so struck by a beautiful young girl, he tries to get himself on TV so she’ll notice him. The game show he lands on gets him into hot water, but the film is overflowing with charm.

6. “WALL-E” — Bigger and bolder and more thought-provoking than any of their earlier films, the folks at Pixar give us an often-funny science fiction story that takes a look at the Earth of the not-too-distant future, when there’s so much garbage on the planet, all of humanity goes to live on spaceships till it can be cleaned up. When that program fails, there’s only robot worker WALL-E, accidentally left behind, to carry on. When he and another robot, named Eve, encounter each other, the initial mayhem turns to something like romance. Now there are two to watch endless replays of “Hello, Dolly!”

5. “Tropic Thunder” — A dysfunctional group of actors are set down in a Far East jungle to make a film about a war hero. Then things go “terribly wrong” and they’re forced by circumstance to “act” far better than usual in order to save their necks. The fake film turns into real warfare, complete with a vicious drug-running gang that’s convinced that the actors are the enemy. A little gruesome near the beginning, riotously funny for the remainder. Robert Downey Jr. plays the whole film in blackface, and should be this year’s Oscar winner for supporting actor.

4. “Defiance” — Deep in the forests of Belorussia, at the height of WWII and the accompanying Holocaust, two Jewish brothers (Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber) who don’t exactly get along come together to save fellow Jews from the Nazi menace. But the based-on-fact film goes way beyond the brothers’ shaky relationship and how they get things going. It explores the fascinating story of a whole community that takes shape under the tall trees, then thrives, both by being careful and by fighting with everything they’ve got when the enemy approaches. Craig shows acting chops that go far beyond James Bond.

3. “Frost/Nixon” — Why are people even considering a best acting Oscar for anyone other than Frank Langella? His portrayal of Nixon is way up near the top of the great screen (and stage) portrayals he’s given us for almost four decades. Here, his post-Watergate Nixon, exiled to the West Coast, is challenged by TV talk-show host David Frost (Michael Sheen), who wants to do a series of TV interviews, hoping to get the ex-president to apologize for his behavior in office. Ron Howard’s film gives us a look inside the minds of both strong-willed men, as well as at the people who protect them and push them forward. A great gripping drama.

2. “The Wrestler” — In the movie that may make pro wrestling even more of a water-cooler discussion topic, Mickey Rourke plays over-the-hill grappler Randy “The Ram” Robinson, who should have retired years ago, but, even with a pain-wracked body, can’t think of anything else to do. Neither can the lap dancer (Marisa Tomei) he has a crush on, and also should have left her game long ago. Darren Aronofsky’s small character study gives Rourke a great canvas on which to display his acting talents (and the wrestling moves he mastered). It’s a terrific film, with characters we really care about, if only they would come to their senses.

1. “Synecdoche, New York” — Script writer extraordinaire Charlie Kaufman (“Being John Malkovich,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) finally got the chance to direct one of his own concoctions, and he did so with panache. This one’s about a small-time theater director who wins a Genius grant, then decides to create the greatest stage production ever made. It’s to be about life and death and everything in between. Unfortunately, life and death and everything in between then get in the way. Philip Seymour Hoffman stars, and the makeup department puts him though an incredible aging process.